hadith 8564–9729

Qatadah narrated: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "There is no harm in bowing separately before joining the row."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "When one of you bows and reaches the row before they raise their heads, he should count that rak'ah; and if they raise their heads before he reaches the row, he should not count it."

Qatadah narrated: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) found some people sitting at the end of their prayer, and he said: "In sha' Allah, you have caught the prayer."

Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Sayyiduna Abdullah (bin Mas'ud) (may Allah be pleased with him) entered the mosque and I entered with him. The imam bowed, so we bowed before reaching the row; then we reached the row at the moment the imam said: "Sami'a Allahu liman hamidah (Allah hears the one who praises Him)." When the imam gave the salam, Sayyiduna Abdullah's (may Allah be pleased with him) companion stood up to make up (the missed rak'ah), but Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) took hold of his garment and said: "Sit down, you have caught the prayer."

Salamah bin Kuhayl narrated: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) hurried towards the prayer, and something was said to him about it. He said: "Is not the prayer the thing most deserving of my hurrying towards it?"

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "When a man has a doubt in his prayer and does not know whether he has prayed three rak'ahs or two, he should build upon what he is most certain of, then perform the two prostrations of forgetfulness (sajdah al-sahw)."

Abidah al-Salmani narrated: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "He should strive to determine what is most correct, and perform the two prostrations of forgetfulness."

Al-Aswad, Alqamah and the companions of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say regarding forgetfulness that a person should strive to determine what is correct, and perform two prostrations while sitting, after giving the salam.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Forgetfulness is when a person stands up where he should have sat, or sits where he should have stood, or gives the salam after two rak'ahs. In such a case he should complete his prayer, perform two prostrations while sitting, and recite the tashahhud in them."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "When you (mistakenly) stand up, or sit down, or give the salam, then perform the two prostrations of forgetfulness, then recite the tashahhud, then give the salam."

It is narrated from Qatadah (may Allah have mercy on him), or from another narrator, that Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) saw two men praying: one of them was letting his lower garment hang down, and the other was not completing his bowing and prostration, so he laughed. The people said: "O Abu Abd al-Rahman! What made you laugh?" He said: "I was amazed at these two men. As for the one letting his lower garment hang down, Allah does not look at him; and as for the other, Allah does not accept his prayer."

Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) was sitting with his companions in the mosque when two men came in and stood behind two pillars. One of them prayed while he had let his lower garment hang down, and the other was not completing his bowing and prostration. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) began to look at the two of them. His companions said: "These two have distracted you from us." He said: "Yes. As for this one, meaning the one letting his lower garment hang down, Allah does not look at him; and as for this one, meaning the one who does not complete his bowing and prostration, Allah does not accept (the prayer) from him."

Abu Uthman al-Nahdi narrated: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) saw a Bedouin praying who had let his lower garment hang down, and he said: "Whoever lets his lower garment hang down in the prayer is neither in the lawful nor in the unlawful in the sight of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic."

Ibn Sirin narrated: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said concerning a man who misses part of the prayer with the imam: "He should make what he catches with the imam the last part of his prayer."

Al-Sha'bi narrated: Jundub and Masruq caught one rak'ah of the Maghrib prayer. Jundub recited behind the imam, while Masruq did not recite. When the imam gave the salam, both stood up to make up (the rest). Masruq sat in the second and the third rak'ah, while Jundub stood up in the second rak'ah and did not sit. When they had finished, they discussed it between themselves, then came to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), and he said: "Both of you did right (or he said: both of you did well), and we will do as Masruq did."

It is narrated from al-Hakam (may Allah have mercy on him) that Jundub and Masruq (may Allah have mercy on them both) caught one rak'ah of the Maghrib prayer. One of them recited, in the last two (made-up) rak'ahs, the recitation that he had missed, while the other did not recite in any rak'ah. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) was asked, and he said: "Both of them are doing well, and I would do as the one did who recited in the two rak'ahs."

Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Jundub and Masruq (may Allah have mercy on them both) caught one rak'ah of the Maghrib prayer. When the imam gave the salam, both stood up to make up (the rest). Jundub stood up in the second rak'ah, while Masruq sat in both of the made-up rak'ahs. Both of them asked Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), and he said: "Both of you have done well, and I would do as Masruq did."

Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Jundub and Masruq (may Allah have mercy on them both) prayed Maghrib in a mosque and caught only one rak'ah with the imam. Both stood up to make up (the rest). Masruq sat in the second rak'ah, while Jundub stood up right in the first rak'ah of the make-up. Both came to Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) and mentioned this to him, and he said: "Both of you have done well, and do as Masruq did."

Ibrahim narrated: Masruq and Jundub reached the imam when one rak'ah had already passed them. Masruq did not recite in the remainder, and Jundub did recite. This was mentioned to Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him), and he said: "Neither of you fell short in the matter, and the correct view is what Masruq did."

Qatadah narrated: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The prayer has a time, just as Hajj has a time."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Straighten your rows, for Satan slips in between them like a small goat (or he said: like the young of small goats)."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "One should not bow before the imam, nor raise the head before him, nor prostrate before him, nor raise the head before him."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The imam has only been appointed to be followed. So when he bows, you bow; and when he raises his head, you raise yours; and do not go ahead of him in bowing, in raising the head, or in prostrating. And if your concern is to catch up with what he has done before you, then he prostrates before you and raises his head before you, so you will catch up with that afterwards."

A shaykh from the tribe of Tayy narrated: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) passed by one of our mosques. A man from among them went forward and recited Surah al-Fatihah, then said: "We will perform Hajj to the House of our Lord and pay off the debt, while they (the mounts) swoop along swiftly like flocks of sandgrouse." Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "We have not heard of anything like this in the latest religion; this is nothing but a fabrication." Then Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) went away.

Ibrahim narrated: Alqamah and al-Aswad set out with Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) towards the mosque, and they met the people coming back, having already prayed. So he took the two of them back to the house, placed one of them on his right and the other on his left, then led them in prayer.

Alqamah narrated: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) led Alqamah and al-Aswad in prayer. One of them stood on his right and the other on his left, then he stood between the two of them.

Al-Sha'bi narrated that Alqamah said: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) led al-Aswad and me in prayer, and he stood between the two of us.

A similar hadith is also narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "When they are three, they should all form one row; and when they are more than that, one of them should go forward ahead of them."

Abdullah bin Abi Musa narrated: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) came while the imam was leading the Fajr prayer, so he prayed two rak'ahs facing a pillar, because he had not yet prayed the Sunnah of Fajr.

A similar hadith is also narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him).

Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: The prayer had begun when Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) approached the mosque, so he first prayed two rak'ahs, then entered the mosque.

Amr bin Dinar narrated that Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say: "Ask for your needs (in supplication) in the obligatory prayer."

Abdullah bin Ziyad al-Asadi narrated: I heard the recitation of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) in one of the two daytime prayers.

Alqamah narrated: I prayed beside Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), and I could not tell that he was reciting anything until I heard him saying: "My Lord, increase me in knowledge" [Surah Taha: 114]. Then I knew that he was reciting Surah Taha.

Al-Haytham bin Shihab narrates that he heard Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) say: "For one of you to sit on two heated stones is better for him than to sit cross-legged in prayer."

Al-Haytham bin Shihab narrates that Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "For a man to sit on two heated stones is better for him than to sit cross-legged in prayer."
Abd al-Razzaq said: What is meant is that when he prays standing, he should not sit cross-legged in the tashahhud, and when he prays sitting, he should sit cross-legged.

Ibrahim narrates: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said regarding the prayer of a sick person: "If he is unable (to prostrate) on the ground, let him do it by gesturing, and let him make his prostration lower than his bowing."

Alqamah and al-Aswad (may Allah have mercy on them both) narrate that Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) went in to his brother Utbah while he was praying on a tooth-stick (miswak) which he would raise to his face. Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) took it and threw it away, then said: "Pray by gesturing, and let your bowing be higher than your prostration."

Ibrahim narrates: Alqamah and al-Aswad came to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: The mother of al-Aswad has become disabled, and he sets up the stick of a fan for her so that she may pray on it. What is your view? He said: "I see that it is Satan himself who is putting forward this stick. She should prostrate on the ground if she is able; otherwise, let her prostrate by gesturing."